What is democratic socialism, American-style?

By Peter Dreier

Updated 5:14 PM ET, Wed October 28, 2015

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – In the early 20th century, industrial tycoons like the Rockefellers and Carnegies amassed fortunes in railroads, steel or oil. Here, a view of Cornelius Vanderbilt's residence in New York in 1908.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – Wealthy passengers aboard a ship near San Francisco, circa 1910s. In this era, the top earners accounted for roughly 18% of the national income.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – People gathered across from the New York Stock Exchange on "Black Thursday," October 24, 1929. The stock market crash of 1929, fueled by excessive speculation on Wall Street, set off the Great Depression.

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Income inequality in America – Thousands of unemployed people waited in line to register for federal relief jobs in New York in 1933. The unemployment rate rose to 25% that year.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – On September 12, 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his staff met to find a solution to the economic crisis. FDR's New Deal policies tightened regulation of Wall Street, strengthened unions and set the top marginal tax rate for the rich at 90%.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – A nurse takes care of children of migratory farm workers in Arvin, California, in 1937. The unemployment rate hovered in the teens. FDR created large-scale public work programs to provide jobs for the poor and middle class.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – A plant in Toledo, Ohio, that made bombs. With the advent of World War II, demand for production of goods and services increased. By the mid-1940s, the unemployment rate dropped to less than 5%.

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Income inequality in America – Labor unions benefited from FDR's policies and grew in power midcentury. Transit workers protested in New York on April 17, 1950. The Transport Workers Union threatened a strike if even one worker was punished for demonstrating.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – Truck supervisor Bernard Levey with his family in front of their new home in 1950. The post-war period was a prosperous time for middle-class Americans.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – From the 1950s to the 1970s, income inequality fell. Some economists call this period "The Great Compression." The median income at the time allowed a single earner to purchase a modest house and a car, support a wife and three children.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – A worker at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento, California, in 1966. The feminist movement fought for equal pay for women, who were earning about 60 cents for every dollar earned by men.

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Income inequality in America – In the 1970s, income inequality began to rise. The economy experienced wage and inflation problems, along with an oil crisis that caused a gasoline shortage. Here, a gas station in New York.

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Income inequality in America – Post-1979 has been called the "Great Divergence." Some say that President Ronald Reagan's policy of supply-side economics, which reduced taxes for the rich, was a contributing factor.

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Income inequality in America – Real estate tycoon Donald Trump with his Rolls Royce at his Mar-a-Largo property in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Income inequality in America – The 138-meter (453-foot) yacht "Rising Sun" was purchased by Larry Ellison of Oracle, who has been one of the nation's highest-paid executives. From the 1990s on, CEO compensation greatly outpaced the average compensation of workers.

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Photos:Income inequality in America

Income inequality in America – Home construction in Inverness, Illinois, in 2006. Risky mortgage lending was packaged by banks that sought to make big profits. The collapse of housing bubble instigated a credit crisis that triggered the global financial meltdown of 2007.

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Income inequality in America – By 2007, the top 1% accounted for 24% of national income. Bernard Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme is one of largest financial frauds in history, made billions off hapless investors. Here, shoes that once belonged to Madoff.

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Income inequality in America – Lehman Brothers, which collapsed in September 2008, filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Major financial institutions were bailed out by the government with a massive amount of taxpayer money.

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Income inequality in America – John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, doled out more than $4 billion in bonuses to employees. Despite the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Wall Street handed out $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008, which is the "sixth-largest haul on record."

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Income inequality in America – A job fair in March 2009. Unemployment rose to 10% during the Great Recession.

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Income inequality in America – In September 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement sprang up. The average income, adjusted for inflation, grew $59 from 1966 to 2011 for the bottom 90% of Americans.

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Income inequality in America – Occupy Oakland protesters in California. In 2012, the income of the top 1% increased nearly 20% compared with a 1% increase for 99% of Americans.

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Income inequality in America – A suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City costs $45,000 a night. Middle class Americans had a median household income of a little over $51,000 in 2013.

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Income inequality in America – Today, the top 1% controls about 40% of national wealth. At a hearing in Washington D.C. about Wall Street and the financial crisis, protesters hold a placard depicting Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who once famously said, "I'm doing God's work."

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Story highlights

Peter Dreier: Socialism is as American as apple pie; many of our most influential thinkers were socialists

Although Bernie Sanders says that U.S. needs a revolution, he is actually a reformer, not a revolutionary

(CNN)Now that Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign is generating lots of media attention, the word "socialism" is in the news. But few Americans know what it is or what Sanders means when he describes himself as a "democratic socialist."

In the early 1900s, socialists led the movements for women's suffrage, child labor laws, consumer protection laws and the progressive income tax. In 1916, Victor Berger, a socialist congressman from Milwaukee, sponsored the first bill to create "old age pensions." The bill didn't get very far, but two decades later, in the midst of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to enact Social Security. Even then, some critics denounced it as un-American. But today, most Americans, even conservatives, believe that Social Security is a good idea. What had once seemed radical has become common sense.

Much of FDR's other New Deal legislation -- the minimum wage, workers' right to form unions and public works programs to create jobs for the unemployed -- was first espoused by American socialists.

Peter Dreier

Socialists were in the forefront of the civil rights movement from the founding of the NAACP in 1909 through the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Socialists have long pushed for a universal health insurance plan, which helped create the momentum for stepping-stone measures such as Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s and Obamacare today.

King believed that America needed a "radical redistribution of economic and political power." In October 1964, he called for a "gigantic Marshall Plan" for the poor -- black and white. Two months later, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, he observed that the U.S. could learn much from Scandinavian "democratic socialism." In fact, he told his staff, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."

During the Cold War, many Americans confused democratic socialism with communism. In fact, democratic socialists opposed the totalitarian governments of the Soviet Union, China and their satellites. That's because democratic socialism is about democracy -- giving ordinary people a greater voice in both politics and the workplace.

Although Sanders says that America needs a "grassroots political revolution," he is actually a reformer, not a revolutionary. His version of democratic socialism is akin to what most people around the world call "social democracy," which seeks to make capitalism more humane.

This is why Sanders says that the U.S. should learn from Sweden, Norway and Denmark -- countries with greater equality, a higher standard of living for working families, better schools, free universities, less poverty, a cleaner environment, higher voter turnout, stronger unions, universal health insurance, and a much wider safety net

European social democracies put greater emphasis on government enterprise, but even most Americans favor government-run police departments, fire departments, national parks, municipally-owned utilities, local subway systems and public state universities.

Socialists believe in private enterprise but think it should be subject to rules that guarantee businesses act responsibly. Banks shouldn't engage in reckless predatory lending. Energy corporations shouldn't endanger and planet and public health by emitting too much pollution. Companies should be required to guarantee that consumer products (like cars and toys) are safe and that companies pay decent wages and provide safe workplaces.

Sanders' socialism means reducing the political influence of the super rich and big corporations, increasing taxes of the wealthy to help pay for expanded public services like child care, public transit, and higher education, reducing barriers to voting, and strengthening regulations of business to require them to be more socially responsible in terms of their employees, consumers and the environment. That means a higher minimum wage, paid sick days and paid vacations, and safer workplaces.

Because the word "socialism" has been demonized, few Americans call themselves socialists or even social democrats. But public opinion polls -- including the Pew Research Center, Hart Research Associates and The New York Times/CBS -- show that a vast majority of Americans agree with what Sanders actually stands for.

For example, 74% think corporations have too much influence; 73% favor tougher regulation of Wall Street; 60% believe that "our economic system unfairly favors the wealthy;" 85% want an overhaul of our campaign finance system to reduce the influence of money in politics; 58% support breaking up big banks; 79% think the wealthy don't pay their fair share of taxes; 85% favor paid family leave; 80% of Democrats and half the public support single-payer Medicare for all; 75% of Americans (including 53% of Republicans) support an increase in the federal minimum wage to $12.50, while 63% favor a $15 minimum wage; well over 70% support workers' rights to unionize; and 92% want a society with far less income disparity.

On those matters -- both broad principles and specific policy prescriptions -- Sanders is in sync with the vast majority of Americans. There's a great deal of pent-up demand for a candidate who articulates Americans' frustrations with the status quo. That's what American socialists have been doing for over a century. Indeed, socialism is as American as apple pie.